I think we need to be very cautious with this logic. I believe it was Dr.
Schrader who asked the question "are our graduates getting placement in
non-traditional settings because they are getting qualified through their
programs? Or because there was simply nothing else out there?"

If we simply look at the demographics of placement without careful consideration
of WHY our graduates are getting these placements, then we would need to
completely revamp our curriculum to only provide 10% of a background in
"traditional" athletic training. In this case, we might as well call ourselves
sports physical therapists, because that is what our curriculum will reflect.
Conversely, if we think that our current curriculum prepares our graduates for a
wide variety of placements, then we should not adjust it further just to
"better" prepare our grads for future placement, otherwise they will be too
specialized to get anything.

I disagree that our job as educators is to produce employable graduates. We are
part of the larger profession of athletic trainers - our job is to prepare
athletic trainers, plain and simple. They should be prepared to meet the
challenges of employment of athletic training in whatever diverse settings they
may find themselves in. I have felt too often lately that we are supposed to
prepare out graduates for the hot placement du jour, and the result is our
graduates no longer think of themselves as athletic trainers, but something
else.

Certainly we need to continue to promote the placement of athletic trainers in
the secondary schools which many of us still regard as "traditional" athletic
training, and our curriculum and clinical placements should reflect that.
However, I continue to be concerned at the voices calling for further
adjustments to our curriculum to reflect the number of graduates who find
positions in the clinical setting. Let's make sure we know why they are getting
those positions before we change our profession to something none of us
recognize nor care about.

Respectfully,

Paul Alvarez, Ph.D, ATC
Professor of Movement & Sports Science
Athletic Training Clinical Supervisor
University of La Verne
alvarezp@...
(909) 593-3511, x4259